Roll Packing House in 1955
Photo by Unknown, 5/15/1955
Roll Packing House in Otay Mesa. George F. Roll was a rancher born in Germany who came to the mesa about 1890 with his wife Elizabeth, 5 daughters and 3 sons. In 1913 his son Fritz drilled the first water well on Otay Mesa. In 1948, he drilled a well for irrigating gardens and crops. After Fritz's well came in, Otay Mesa farmers raised the first irrigated crops of tomatoes and celery. Fritz was a founder of the Otay Water District in the 1950s and was the first to raise garbanzo beans and ship them to Greece, Cuba and New York.